World Travels 5: Cape Town, South Africa

The city sits at the southern tip of the continent. It is bathed in a salty clear air.  From the base of Table Mountain, the city spreads out along the coasts. There is a rich variety of residential areas from the upmarket suburbs along the coast to the townships on the edge of the city.

Looking up at Table Mountain from affluent suburbs

Expensive real estate beside the coast

Cape Town from the top of Table Mountain: Robben Island is in the distance.

Bo-Kaap, formerly know as Malay Quarter was a township for Muslims, originally from Indonesia. Close to the city center,  it is now undergoing gentrification

Travels 4: Mauritius

Mauritius is a former British colony off the coast of South Africa. It was the home of the dodo bird, now extinct, and the setting for imperial rivalries between Britain and France. Hundreds of thousands of laborers were imported from India to work on the sugar plantation. Sugar still plays an important role but since independence, in 1968, the economy has broadened to include manufacturing, financial services and high-end tourism.  

High end tourism is now a vital  part of the national economy

Small scale agriculture is still important

(All Photos ©John Rennie Short)

Travels 3: Dubai

Dubai is in a race against time. The oil reserves are running out, and running out fast. The oil will be gone, most likely, by 2035. And so the emirate is trying to position itself for a post-oil economy by transforming the city into a global transport hub, financial center, property market investment opportunity and tourist destination. That is the economic rationale behind the frantic building boom. But the buildings do not simply house tenants, they are designed to make a statement about the city's emerging position as a global player. Hence the big name architects and the signature buildings; they are the projections of global aspirations, exercises in place promotion and the embodiment of city marketing.

Burj Khalifa: one of the tallest buildings in the world

Burj Al Arab: luxury hotel and iconic symbol

High rise buildings at Dubai Creek

Laborers from South Asia build these structures


(All photos ©John Rennie Short)

World travels 2: Hawaii to Bali

Flew from Hawaii to Fiji, then to Sydney and onto Bali.

Sugar plantations are still an important part of Fiji's economy

Sydney with entrance to harbor in distance

Portrait of Jack Mundey, one of my heroes that I have written about, in The Rocks area of Sydney

Flying over Australia: Uluru

Balinese dancer

Hindu temple in Bali

World Travels: 1 DC to Hawaii

Just returned from almost three months of sabbatical travel. Went round the world twice- the first time east to west; then west to east. So first order of business is to show some photos of travel. Will punctuate this updating travel blog with more up to date events.

Traveling through Phoenix

Flying into Kona

Solidified lava flows

Wildfire article takes off

I published an article in The Conversation on the social context of wildfires in the west. You can access it here. I argued that the federal government underwrote the fire costs of people moving into the ever expanding wildlands-urban interface, a region that is getting more development but also becoming more vulnerable to forest fires as it dries and warms with climate change. The piece has attracted some attention, being posted by the Federal Reserve, Newsweek as well as in science and trade journals and local newspapers out west. I have also received lots of interesting email from people on the frontline of firefighting.

I wanted to write this piece for the past three years and gratified that when it did come out, it reached a wider audience that the more restricted coverage of my articles in academic journals. 

Poster for POLIS in Cali, Colombia

Cool poster made by folks at POLIS Icesi University for my visit to Cali Colombia.